Generate and Grow Connection

Over a decade of work with treatment centres ended with the beginning of the pandemic in 2020. We deeply enjoyed those programs and pass on what we learned to the professionals that come to train with us at Generation Farms.

People in recovery come to Generation Farms to learn powerful lessons in recovery. Generation Farms has worked with treatment centres since 2007. Staying in the present moment, emotional honesty, managing uncomfortable feelings, having healthy boundaries; these all support recovery but can be merely words or ideas. Horses teach real lessons that are hard to learn in the usual classroom.

Our herd of horses and our professional team support residents in a day of experiences outside in nature and with horses. The non-judgmental yet direct behavior of the horse can reveal and support new awareness and behaviors. The Generation Farms approach is very helpful for trauma survivors in recovery. Participants report significant emotional and spiritual growth and increased awareness of their own recovery needs.

A man kneels beside the fence. He is terrified, not of the small horse on the other side, but of his fear that she won’t like him and will walk away. As he lets go of his tough act and acknowledges how lonely he really is, she comes over and blows on his face with her gentle breath. On the other side of the barn a young woman meets a huge horse. He pulls at her clothing and pushes at her with his nose. She laughs. People do what they want with her. Later, when she is supported to stand her ground with this gentle giant, learning to push him away and create a safe space around her, she cries for all the times that she let her boundaries be violated. ‘Never again’.